An Analytical Design of Simplified Decoupling Smith Predictors for Multivariable Processes

Analytical Design of Fractional-Order PI Controller for Parallel Cascade Control Systems

The fractional-order proportional-integral (FOPI) controller tuning rules based on the fractional calculus for the parallel cascade control systems are systematically proposed in this paper. The modified parallel cascade control structure (PCCS) with the Smith predictor is addressed for stable, unstable, and integrating process models with time delays. Normally, the PCCS consists of three controllers, including a stabilized controller, for a class of unstable and integrating models, a disturbance rejection controller in the secondary loop, and a primary servomechanism controller. Accordingly, the ideal controller is obtained by using the internal model control (IMC) approach for the inner loop. The proportional-derivative (PD) controller is suggested for the stabilized controller and is designed based on a stability criterion. Based on the fractional calculus, the analytical tuning rules of the FOPI controller for the outer loop can be established in the frequency domain. The simulation study is considered for three mentioned cases of process models and the results demonstrate the flexibility and effectiveness of the proposed method for the PCCS in comparison with the other methods. The robustness of the proposed method is also justified by perturbed process models with ±20% of process parameters including gain, time constant, and delay time.

A comparative study of various Smith predictor configurations for industrial delay processes

Efficient control of industrial delay processes is a challenging problem in the field of process control. Time delays are generally experienced in industrial processes from distance velocity lags, composition analysis loops, recycle time, mass, and energy transportation time. A high time delay adds a large phase lag to the system, thereby affecting the closed-loop control system stability and thus not easily controlled with PID approach. Smith predictor (SP) is a prominent technique based on process model for processes with high time delay. Unfortunately, the performance of SP deteriorates when the plant model is inaccurate. To overcome the problems related to conventional SP, various modifications have been suggested over the years in terms of structure alterations and controller parameters tuning improvements. This paper focuses on a comparative study of various Smith predictor configurations available in the literature for controlling inverse, integrating, stable and unstable industrial processes with time delay.

Experimental Investigation and Control of a Hot-Air Tunnel with Improved Performance and Energy Saving

The paper is focused on the identification, control design, and experimental verification of a two-input two-output hot-air laboratory apparatus representing a small-scale version of appliances widely used in the industry. A decentralized multivariable controller design is proposed, satisfying control-loop decoupling and measurable disturbance rejection. The proposed inverted or equivalent noninverted decoupling controllers serve for the rejection of cross-interactions in controlled loops, whereas open-loop antidisturbance members satisfy the absolute invariance to the disturbances. Explicit controller-structure design formulae are derived, and their equivalence to other decoupling schemes is proven. Three tuning rules are used to set primary controller parameters, which are further discretized. All the control responses are simulated in the Matlab/Simulink environment. In the experimental part, two data-acquisition, communication, and control interfaces are set up. Namely, a programmable logic controller and a computer equipped with the peripheral component interconnect card commonly used in industrial practice are implemented. A simple supervisory control and data acquisition human-machine interface via the Control Web environment is developed. The laboratory experiments prove better temperature control performance measured by integral criteria by 35.3%, less energy consumption by up to 6%, and control effort of mechanical actuator parts by up to 17.1% for our method compared to the coupled or disturbance-ignoring design in practice. It was also observed that the use of a programmable logic controller gives better performance measures for both temperature and air-flow control.

A Novel Design of Fractional PI/PID Controllers for Two-Input-Two-Output Processes

In this paper, a new formulation of fractional order proportional integral (PI)/ proportional integral derivative (PID) controller is proposed. The proposed controller will be justified for some well-known two-input-two-output (TITO) processes. In order to deal with interactions between process variables in a multivariable system, as well as multiple delay times in process transfer functions, the simplified decoupling Smith predictor (SDSP) structure is also used. The issue of decoupling realizability is solved by the PSO algorithm and fractional order processes are also suggested for model reduction. The tuning rules of the controller are derived in analytical terms based on the internal model control (IMC) structure. The effectiveness and robust stability of the proposed approach are illustrated by comparing it with other methods. To have a fair comparison, the robustness criterion using the M-Δ structure with μ-synthesis is adopted and the μ value of the proposed method is always kept smaller than the value of the others.